The Countdown
by Shadow-Cipher
Summary: Robotnik's underlings have managed to successfully capture a Freedom Fighter known as Harper, and now its up to her girlfriend to brave the dangers of Robotropolis alone and save her from a fate worse than death.


Rough clouds rolled violently overhead, crashing into one another with loud booms that would pierce the heavens apart. Nature seemed as though it was always one step ahead of the common man, and it had a sinister way of predicting things yet to come. Heavy rain droplets were flitting down sharply from above, marking their territory as each spot of land and each item contained within it was struck, dampening everything that walked within. Even then, this rain felt off, and it felt as though the heavy corruption lurking over the big city had managed to even taint the few aspects of the world its ruler simply had no control over – no control over yet, anyways.

A bright blue lynx had her eyes locked on it all, her back to what would've been a far more pleasant place to be. Her name was Baretta, just one of the many mobians battling for a free planet. She would've liked nothing more than to simply turn around and head back to the beautiful forest, to slip her way through the secret entrance to the home base and return to see her friends waving at her. The problem was, though, she couldn't. Even if she went back one face would be missing among all those she knew so well, and it was the most important one in her life too.

Her wife Harper.

She still shuddered at the memory, but the terror lurking even deeper within was what would happen to her lover if she took too long. The insane dictator of that rotting pile of metal that could once be called a city was so aggressive in his attempts to find out where the Freedom Fighters lived, so relentless in his searches despite rarely showing up himself. With each passing day it felt creepily like he was getting closer and closer, and that one of these days, he was going to happen upon their doorstep and all hell would break loose.

That very nosy behavior was the very reason Harper was in danger right now. Baretta remembered with a shiver watching the scene replay in her head. It happened so quickly, and she was mad at herself for being taken off guard by it and letting this happen.

Laser strikes began raining from the sky, and she had seen a flash of gold zip past. She had known immediately what it was, and had wasted little time in trying to fire at it. But when she had drawn her weapon to search for the target, Swatbots had taken her up on all sides. She fired and fired at them, smashing them into pieces faster than their creator could ever hope to produce them, but it was too late. As the last Swatbot fell before her, a piercing scream entered her ears, and a bright flash of electrically charged light consume the area. That damn girl on her golden bird... she had managed to sneak up on Harper, and had electrocuted her to knock her unconscious. Baretta kicked aside the remains of a Swatbot, lifting her gun and wasting no time in firing, but the bird had already vanished, covered in a cloaking field as it flew away.

Not that Baretta needed to see it to know where it was going. She knew full well where it was going, and what they were planning to do with her wife. She wasn't about to allow that to happen.

Still, this was a tense encounter, and Baretta hated the idea of it. If she took her time too much in her attempts to sneak past the local robotic guards, she would certainly be too late, but hastening ahead with no regard for the city security would surely end with her in the same situation. She would be overwhelmed with more Swatbots then she knew how to handle, and Robotnik would surely take precautions to secure his fortress even further against her. No, she had to find the perfect balance between stealth and speed.

Quickly, Baretta surveyed the surrounding area, looking for signs of security. Things seemed relatively quiet, bar the storm clouds crashing overhead and the thick rain droplets dampening her fur. She didn't like the heavy fur coat, but the rain itself was insanely helpful. Even the robots would struggle to see her through the rain, so she knew she'd be able to move just a twitch quicker with the relative same level of safety.

Seeing no signs of any Swatbots or security drones, Baretta leaped swiftly on to a pile of rubble. It was slick from the rain, but she was easily able to keep steady and leap to a higher surface. Her tail swung sharply from side to side as she dug her claws into the loose bricks of the old structure, breathing slowly to keep herself at ease as she forced herself higher up the structure.

If only Grey was here. He'd be able to just fly her to the roof instead of having to climb herself, but in her haste to make rescue Harper, she hadn't actually informed anyone what was going on. That might've been a little foolish, but Baretta was simply too on edge about the idea of Harper being turned into a robot to do anything but immediately run to her aide. She would explain later – everyone would surely understand. Besides, Grey flying in the heavy rain might not have been the best idea anyways, and it wasn't like Baretta couldn't manage on her own.

Finally, she hefted herself over the edge of the building, rolling on to the puddles forming on the roof. She shook herself out briefly, her clothes and fur soaked almost down to the bone. That didn't slow her down, and she kept a swift pace as she threw herself from the surface of the roof towards a taller building, holding firmly on to it as she lifted herself to an even higher roof.

As she leaped from rooftop to rooftop, she kept alert, eyes and ears peeled for the sounds of the local security. They were definitely around, searching, wandering, just waiting for an opportunity to bump into something that isn't supposed to be there and make a stir about it. Nonetheless, the threat they posed thus far had been minimal, and she found her rooftop journey was relatively quick, thanks in part to the thick mist being kicked up by the rain itself. Soon a large tower crept from the rain, the mist clouds almost parting to reveal it in all its gloomy fashion.

There it was, the center of control for this entire empire, and the very building where the current ruler of this city was probably watching the rain with an irritated scowl on his face. It wasn't like Baretta hadn't been in that building before. Many, many times had she broken in, and it seemed like no matter how many times she broke in, Robotnik was always overconfident enough in himself that it probably wouldn't happen again – at least, that was the only excuse Baretta could come up with for why he never seemed inclined to increase security after a break in occurred. She definitely wasn't complaining, though. If the predictable ways of sneaking into that place still continued to work, then she fully welcomed him leaving them around for her and the other Freedom Fighters to take advantage of at will. He seemed far more concerned with the front door anyways, which would hardly be an intelligent place for an intruder to make their break in.

Baretta returned now to ground level, which was a smidgen easier than getting all the way up the buildings. Still, she was cautious not to slip with each passing moment as her feet hit the moist ground below nearly sinking in the dirt and mud.

She hastened forward. Somewhere around here there had to be a ventilation shaft. She had used it to break in this place before, after all.

She had nearly located it too when a piercing red glow cut through the droplets of rain, illuminating the walls of the very building she was standing near. The light was dangerously close to her, and her heart raced at the mere through of being held up by one of those walking tin cans. She saw the bulky figure of the Swatbot through the rain. It was difficult to make out, but it was definitely there, getting drenched by the water droplets raining down from above just as she was. Baretta wasted no time in drawing her gun, aiming it directly at the large walking chunk of metal, and firing. The Swatbot hadn't even a moment to react to what was going on before it was thrown to the ground from impact and began sparking violently. As the water made contact with the sparks dancing around it, the entire frame of the Swatbot instantly lit on fire, and a striking explosion followed suit, the light of the explosion creating a vibrant glow that pierced through the rain. Without even thinking, Baretta turned tail and ran. She knew that explosion would the attention of any other Swatbots that happened to be in the vicinity, and she definitely wasn't planning to stick around and meet all of them, so she made haste to find the vent entrance, remove it, and slip inside undetected.

The rain clinging to her fur was rolling off into the vents, the slick metal shafts becoming just the slightest bit slicker as she effectively covered them in rain water too. The vent itself was enormous, and on several levels, it felt impractical to have a ventilation system with this much room for people to fit into. While the vents were just a little too low for her to fully stand up in, she could easily walk on two feet if she kept her head held a little low, and that was exactly what she did as the crept through the cold, metallic ventilation system. With each step she took and each corner she rounded, she could feel her heart thumping heavily in her chest, each moment inducing this paranoid terror that she was too late. She feared rounding the corner to peer through an opening and see that Harper was already fully roboticized, and that there would be nothing she could do now but turn around and deliver the bad news to the other Freedom Fighters – and worst of all, to Harper's little brother, who was already heartbroken over the losses of both his parents at Robotnik's hands and the disappearance of his older brother. If Harper was lost, then the child would have no family left to comfort him, and Baretta would feel absolutely horrible having to break that news to him.

Baretta knew she couldn't let this happen, but she was also smart enough to know that if she was too late, then that thought would be a sweet sentiment at best.

What if she already was too late? After all, that robotic bird could travel much faster than she could on foot. She hated asking that question, and she almost hated herself for even letting such a thought cross her mind. But still – what if she was? Just because a question wasn't pleasant, it didn't mean the question wasn't still applicable.

But the world has a funny way of knowing when you need answers, almost as if the events your living are some other person's idea of a story yet to be told, and often times, the things you see feel just a little too convenient, but you welcome them nonetheless.

Baretta heard a voice from below – one that was not particularly pleasant to the ears, but all too familiar to them. She paused, taking advantage of a nearby focal point with which to view what was going on below her. There in the hallway stood the very person that had stolen away Harper, her obnoxious red outfit so obvious it hurt, a rather unwelcome sinister glow to her eyes. Rissa, the assistant to Robotnik alongside his whimpering little nephew. She was standing alongside a single Swatbot, which was relatively common to see. She appeared to be speaking with the machine, though it was a little unclear that level of conversation the girl thought she was going to be getting from a giant tin can.

"You Swatbots had better not let me down, you know," the girl hissed, an unpleasant tone to her voice as she spoke.

"It is a simple task, ma'am, and it will be completed," insisted the Swatbot in a dull, monotone voice, the response listless, but firm nonetheless.

Rissa seemed partially unconvinced as she glanced up, her green eyes piercing sharply through the frame of the Swatbot. "Yeah, you'd best hope it goes that smoothly. I'm relying on you to get that platypus roboticized and I'm going to be very unhappy if I find out that went even the slightest bit awry. I'd do it myself, but unlike you, I have important affairs to attend to.

The Swatbot simply responded, "You attend to those tasks, ma'am. The platypus will be roboticized as you have ordered. There is nothing to worry about."

"There better not be," she snarled in response, an uncomfortable level of intimidation coming from such a small girl. "Otherwise, you and I... we're going to have a nice long chat about your level of competency. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," The Swatbot responded, nothing more to add.

Rissa took one more moment to glare into the cold core of the machine before turning away and returning to her affairs, whatever they might've been. The Swatbot itself simply stood for several painfully long moments in the hallway, merely observing as the girl briskly walked off before turning in a different direction and going about its business.

That conversation had been relatively unpleasant, but one good thing had come out of it. She had confirmed Harper was still made of flesh and blood, and Baretta basked in the comfort of knowing she still had time to prevent the worst from happening. Still, she had to move quickly, as it was evident that this was a task multiple parties wanted done as quickly as possible, and one that she would be too late to prevent if she didn't hurry up and put a stop to it. Baretta lowered herself from the ventilation system now, making certain to keep silent as her feet touched the ground. Her ears lifted high, her tail nervously flicking from side to side. She was vulnerable in these halls, but this was the quickest and most reliable way of reaching Harper in time, and that would have to be good enough. It wasn't perfect, but it was satisfactory, and in times like these, you had to make do with whatever it was life was willing to hand to you.

The Swatbot was far ahead now, turning around a corner and out of the lynx's sight. Baretta made haste to pursue, though she was cautious to make certain he shoes didn't click upon the metal floor and reveal her position.

It wasn't long before she peered around a corner and saw the Swatbot moving into another room, stepping through a large metal door before it slammed shut vibrantly behind it. Naturally, there were guards at the door, and Baretta's fur stood up on end as she heard one of the Swatbots speak.

One of the Swatbots guarding the door lifted its arm, pointing the cannon down the hallway straight towards Baretta's location and demanded "Halt, intruder!"

Of course. It had spotted her, and if the other Swatbot guarding the door hadn't known she was there, it certainly did now, as the other one also readied its weapon and took its turn firing down the hall shortly after the first one did.

Baretta's ears stood tall now as she swiftly threw herself to the floor, rolling out of the way of the gunshots swiftly. She wasted no time in drawing her own gun in retaliation as she kept flat on the floor on her belly, multiple shots zipping past above her. She took two shots, one for each enemy. The first bullet slammed directly into the midsection of one of the Swatbots, causing it to stumble back into the wall with a loud crash. The second Swatbot reacted to the damage caused to the first, and the shift in movement caused the bullet to instead strike what would've been the robot's shoulder. Baretta fired another shot at the second Swatbot, this time striking its leg and knocking it to the ground. The first Swatbot was already partially in flames, the bullet having struck it in just the perfect spot to cause a volatile reaction. Baretta climbed to her feet, turning tail to race around the corner and brace her back against the wall just as a violent explosion consumed the hall.

Moments later, a second explosion followed suit, the violent death of the first Swatbot causing a chain reaction and finishing off the second one too.

Baretta rounded the corner again. The explosion had badly damaged the door to the room, and she was able to squeeze her way through the damage doorway into the very chamber where roboticization took place. The roboticizer was a horrible machine to lay witness to, but even worse would be to be trapped inside one.

There was the Swatbot that had entered the room, already alert thanks to the explosion that had occurred. Baretta immediately drew her weapon, firing into the base of the robot's neck without so much as letting it get a word in edgewise. The impact threw the Swatbot back and it landed with a loud crash on the floor as its head popped off and bounced several feet away before finally falling still on the ground.

"Baretta!" a familiar voice yowled.

Baretta turned to look. There was Harper, trapped into a thick glass tube, eyes aglow in fear. The machine itself was already humming as Baretta ran up to it, and it was very clear that the Swatbot had already activated it before death.

"It's already on! Get me out of here!" Harper howled, hands firmly against the glass.

Baretta felt a terror unlike any other as she battled with the controls, trying with everything she had to get this accursed machine to turn off. It wasn't working, however, and no matter what buttons she pressed, it hummed on, energy charging to full capacity as it began to work on roboticizing its next victim. Baretta felt a true terror beating in her chest, her heart almost breaking apart on the spot. She looking up fleetingly as Harper yowled in fear, and noticed the process was already beginning to consume her. Metal was eating away at her flesh, and Harper's fear was quickly turned to agony as her flesh and bone was molded into metal against her will.

In that moment, Baretta panicked. She couldn't let this happen to one of the people she cared most about, she couldn't have the mental image of Harper turning in front of her very eyes forever locked into her head. So in her moment of blind terror, she lifted her gun, pointed it at the control box, and unleashed a vibrant shot at it, blowing the entire thing to pieces. Still unsatisfied, she began relentlessly tearing wires from the shattered box, her mind racing in terror as she did so.

The humming stopped. It wasn't operational anymore. Baretta took a moment to exhale loudly, gathering herself as she tried to chase away that fear.

Harper didn't look much calmer, though. Despite the fact that she was obviously relieved the entire process was over with, her eyes still seemed to flicker with fear, with that looming terror of knowing just how dangerously close she had been to having all her free will stripped away from her right in front of her very eyes.

"Th-Thank you..." Harper finally managed to exhale, shivering a little still.

Baretta managed to get the glass chamber to withdraw, freeing the victim within, and she couldn't stop herself from throwing herself at Harper and tightly hugging her, sobbing loudly as she held her lover in her arms and felt the flesh still upon her body. Mostly. Her hand grazed what felt like cold metal, and she took a step back to reexamine her lover.

It was true Harper was still mostly comprised of flesh, the vibrant pink of her body brightly glowing upon her frame. Yet, she was not fully what she had once been. Baretta felt a pang hit her as she saw Harper had lost her right arm, left leg, and entire tail to that disgusting process, and those limbs were now made entirely of pure metal, complete with a bright shine, several screws holding them in place, and a thick wire embedded into the arm. Seeing that hurt, and Baretta felt like she had partially failed when she looked upon that.

"Harper... you..." Baretta began nervously.

Harper, however, simply smiled. "It's ok, hun. It's ok," she reassured her in a soft tone of voice, trying to keep her expression happy looking for the one she loved. "I know you feel like this is your fault, but it isn't. If you hadn't been here, I would've had a lot more metal on my body than this. I can live with this... at least I'm still me."

Baretta's eyes were beginning to fill up with tears as she gazed upon her lover, and as she saw Harper's face was still covered with nothing more than a big smile, the tears welled up even heavier. She wrapped her arms around Harper once more, practically bawling as she held her lover and felt her warm body pressed against her own. Baretta's body was wracked with sharp shivers, and she could barely see through the wet tears as she pressed her face against Harper's chest. She felt Harper's arms wrapping tightly around her body, patting her gently to help relax her. It felt so wonderful, and Baretta was so happy to still have the person she loved with all her heart in her arms.

When Baretta finally drew back, Harper looked upon her with a soft glow in her eyes and said, "Don't worry about a thing, hun, I won't be leaving you behind any time soon." Harper gently kissed Baretta on the lips to help keep her calm, and the lynx's cheeks immediately flushed brightly.

The moment was shattered as an alarm blared vibrantly in the background, but neither Harper nor Baretta's smiles vanished fully.

"Looks like they knew I escaped," Harper said directly to Baretta.

Baretta merely grinned, "That's ok. You and I can quiet them down real quick." Baretta drew her gun now. She was ready to take on all the Swatbots in this wretched building as long as the woman she loved was by her side.


End file.
